What's really (left) on your mind?

Facebook is asking you every day "what's on your mind", while Google is always there for you, for everything that is not on your mind. After the constant use of both of them, you can't help but wonder, what's really left on your mind nowadays?

Facebook, Google and the Internet in general, have signficantly affected the way we think, and the way our mind works. When Facebook is asking 'what's on your mind', we feel an urge to answer, which leads to a brand new status update.

This may turn into interesting conversations, reviews and ideas between you and your friends, but it could also turn out into a digital diary, with you writing down in public your personal thoughts, ending up sacrificing your privacy. It is a new era and we need to adjust to the modern way of thinking, which includes the way we use social media. It's not always easy to keep a balance between the urge to over-share and the feeling of being over-cautious for your privacy, but that's what you need to find. 

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Moreover, there is an even bigger change happening on our mind, ever since Google search has been developed. Day by day, we realise that we don't need our memory the way we needed it some decades ago, since everything is in our hands with just a few mouse clicks. This makes us avoiding memorizing any new information we're learning, knowing that the Internet, or our smartphone will work for us. No more time-consuming searching at an encyclopedia for a historical date. All you have to do is search properly to get the answers you need faster than ever. Even auto-completion is helping our minds once again, allowing us to partially remember something and letting Google do the rest.

Thus, if Facebook is trying to get on our minds, Google is already inside them and doing a pretty good job with what we're looking for. No, they are not spies, they are just taking advantage of the information we are giving away, using them either to help us, or to advertise us with the right products for us.

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Are we losing our minds then?

No, our minds are still present and they will still be for a long time. Although you might sometimes feel like you're in the middle of a brain drain, it's up to you to recover and keep what you need. After all, it's not a loss, but an adaptation for our minds. We are adapting to a new world and we are re-shaping ourselves to take advantage of the new services as much as possible.

Am I becoming dumber?

No, you're not becoming dumper. On the contrary, you're developing new skills, which might make you even smarter! Using the Internet, combined with your mind to find the information you're looking for, allows you to improve your searching, analysing, and filtering skills, in an era when information is everywhere. Being surrounded by this amount of information makes you pick what you really need, separating the stimulating data from the overwhelming information.

As long as you know how to juggle between your actual brain and the new technologies, the results will be impressive.

Be careful though, don't be too dependent on the Internet. Keep training your mind. It's still the most valuable asset you have!

PS. Song of the week to add a background -relevant- music.